Chefs Viajam Expands Its Footprint

Peru & Brazil Continue Their Cross-Continental Culinary Dialogue

When Living in Peru first covered Chefs Viajam, Marriott International’s growing culinary exchange born in Brazil, it was clear the project had momentum. What began as a cross-border collaboration between Peru and Brazil has now evolved into a continental conversation, bringing chefs, techniques, and stories together across cities.

In the weeks following the original Brazil-Peru encounter, Chefs Viajam returned with force, this time in Cusco and Lima, offering two new four-hands dinners that continued exploring how Andean heritage and Brazilian expression speak to each other on the plate.

Andes Meet the Tropics

The first of these new editions took place in the historic heart of Cusco, where the JW Marriott El Convento Cusco hosted chef Rely Alencastre Lazo and welcomed Antonio Amaral, executive chef of JW Marriott Rio de Janeiro, for the dinner Chefs Viajam: Cusco & Río.

The menu unfolded as a five-course bridge between altitude and coastline, tradition and reinvention. Amaral opened the evening with a playful Brazilian bite: a tapioca alfajor filled with trout mousse, a nod to the lightness and texture of northern Brazil with a respectful wink toward Andean waters.

From there, both chefs joined forces for a shrimp burger with tucupi mayo and confit patacón, a dish that blended Amazonian acidity with the savory depth of Peruvian coastal ingredients.

Alencastre followed with a deeply Cusqueñan expression: a huatia of Andean tubers served with a uchucuta of three native ajíes, celebrating memory, territory, and the soul of the region.

Amaral brought diners back to Brazil with a fisherman’s moqueca baiana, bright and aromatic, finished with Pará nut crunch, before Rely closed the night with a stunning zapallo macre tart with rosemary cream and cachaça, a dessert thatwas equal parts Andean comfort and tropical brightness.

In Cusco, the exchange reminded the diners that both Peru and Brazil share a language of biodiversity, freshness, and rhythm, spoken through ingredients.

Italian-Brazilian Influence Meets Peruvian Expression 

Just two days later, Chefs Viajam arrived in Lima, where Chef Rafael Casin, executive chef of JW Marriott Lima, welcomed Carlos Leiva from JW Marriott São Paulo for an elegant, urban interpretation of the program.

If the Cusco dinner felt rooted in landscape, Lima’s was about sophistication, two modern kitchens using heritage ingredients as tools for storytelling.

Casin opened with a Wagyu beef tartare with cushuro, the Andean “caviar,” accompanied by native potato flakes and a creamy black tucupi aioli. It was a dish that folded together land, altitude, and technique.

Next came Casin’s cured trout tiradito, layered with a scallop-shell emulsion and a chalaquita featuring ajíes from coast, highlands, and jungle: a study in the geography of Peruvian flavor.

Leiva brought a vivid tonal shift with his Tagliata di Tonno, pairing Pacific tuna with aromatic carrot purée and Sicilian lemon confit emulsion, his Italo-Brazilian identity expressed in clean lines and bright acidity.

As a main course, Casin presented 48-hour short rib over corn pastel, Andean cheese foam, and a red wine Oca reduction from Huatata, Cusco, deep, comforting, and unmistakably Peruvian.

The finale was a collaboration between Leiva and pastry sous-chef Almir Batista: Cioccolato, caffè & arancia, a glossy dessert of chocolate fondant, coffee, salted orange caramel, and milk ice cream.

Across Cusco and Lima, the message was clear: Chefs Viajam is no longer a regional initiative: it’s becoming a movement. Each dinner is a chapter, bringing together Marriott chefs from across the continent to trade techniques, challenge traditions, and reinterpret the flavors that define them. The story of Chefs Viajam is only beginning.